The Way we Were
by abigailtate
Summary: One shot inspired by the title of the upcoming episode The Way we Were - Flac


This is is not what I think will happen when Jac gets back, not in the slightest, I've just been completely lost as to what to write for them nd there's been a complete lack of Flac fanfics since Jac left :(( cmon pals im in need of some angst ahhh

i rlly struggled to write this ngl it's not my best work but meh we need more flac :)))

"We can't simply return back to the way we were."

She gulps, feeling raw emotion wave over her as he spits out those words, words that she'd be dreading ever since she'd left the hospital only a month ago. He's shut the office door behind him before she allows the first tear to fall, her hands moving up to her face to wipe it away, refusing to accept that he still had the power to leave her feeling small, even after such a long break away from him.

She'd come in today expecting a battle. Expecting to have to have to grovel, to apologise, to actually talk to him, but she didn't expect him to cut her dead before she'd even had a chance to explain herself. There was no battle to be fought, as Fletch had built his barriers so high during her month away that she feared that they really were impenetrable- that it was truly the final straw.

There was no point even trying to deny it now- she missed him. She missed his stupid, boyish, infectious smile. She missed his checkups on her, the care that he showed for her- just him, really.

The tears roll delicately down her cheeks, her stone façade crumbling around her in useless piles. She'd pushed him too hard, and in doing so, not only had she hurt him, she'd hurt herself as well.

Wiping the final couple of tears away, she composed herself, grabbed the closest file to her and got on with catching up on all of the work she had missed out on.

o

It wasn't until 2 that she emerged from her office, figuring that the pounding headache she was suffering from was dehydration as she'd been stubborn enough to lock herself away in her office, just incase she ran into Fletch on the way to the staff room. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to hold back her tears if she ran into him again and he were to dismiss her again.

Thankfully, Fletch wasn't in her direct line of sight, but Patrenko was. She was hoping she can slip past her without having to face her, but she'd already made eye contact with the Ukraine. Before she could turn around, Patrenko was on her feet and in front of Jac within a heartbeat. She let out a long sigh- she knew she deserved whatever lecture she was in for.

"How's the pain?" The younger girl questioned, tilting her head to the side.

She hadn't anticipated that- she was sure she was in for a lecture, surely. "Better. How's your progress been? Anything I need to worry about?" She questioned, desperate to move the topic of conversation away from her.

"Good. Nothing I couldn't handle." She drawled out in her monotone voice, before folding her arms. "Fletch and Sydney have been a big help." She innocently mentioned, turning halfway through her sentence with a knowing look on her face.

"Sydney? Who's that?" Jac jumped in, following the young apprentice back to the Nurse's station, her brow creased in confusion and a sinking feeling in her stomach developing.

"Oh, just a temporary Nurse here- an old friend of Fletch. I think they're out having lunch right now." She added in as an afterthought, her eyes focused on the computer in front of her instead of on her mentor. Jac gulped, trying to swallow the jealousy that she could feel eating at her like a parasite.

It was then that she heard the familiar laughter of Fletch exiting the elevator that pulled her out of her trance as she glanced over, eager to see what was going on. Her eyes trailed over his company- that must have been Sydney. Her heart sank.

She was a lot prettier, and seemed to be a lot more fun than Jac ever was. She exchanged banter with Fletch easily, it was clear that they were comfortable in each others presence. It hurt Jac that he was able to replace her so quickly, so easily, so soon after her departure. She deserved it, she supposed.

Composing herself quickly, she strode down the corridor towards them, her eyes focused on the other end of the corridor, refusing to let a Fletch know that she was hurting. She was Jac Naylor, after all, the ice queen of Holby.

"Oh! Miss Naylor, we haven't been introduced, I'm Sy-" The pair of them stopped as she approached, Fletch looking anywhere but Jac, and the young nurse thrusting her hand out as a formality. Before the temporary nurse could finish, the consultant had cut her off, landing her narrowed eyes on her as she practically snarled.

"I don't care who you are as long as you do your job properly." She didn't spare Fletch a glance as she stalked off towards the lift, eager to get down to pulse without anymore grief. As the lift door closed, she leans back against it, and let out a defeated sigh.

o

She was halfway through her usual chicken salad, sat in her office sulking, when Fletch burst into her office, his face bright red with anger.

"Who do you think you are waltzing in here after a month off and coming back only to speakto my nurses like that?" He snarled out, slamming his hands down on her desk in frustration, locking his eyes onto hers.

"I'm the Lead Consultant here Fletch, I can do what I want." She hissed in reply, dropping her fork into her salad in favour of leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "What I want to know is why you think you can charge in here, all guns blazing, and speak to me in that tone? I thought you said we couldn't return to the way we were." She bit out, but reverted her eyes once she had finished, instantly regretting her words.

Fletch removed his hands from her desk, and clenched his fists by his sides. "It's been bothering you that much, huh? That you have to take out your frustrations on my nurses? Maybe you should have thought of that before you decided to leave me with a note- a note that wasn't even really for me! You were the one that left! You can't expect me to keep letting you play with my feelings and then run away when things get too real for you!" He burst out, his brow creased in anger. "I put my tables on the card for you, and you ran. You've made it perfectly clear to me that we don't want the same thing."

She opted for silence, unsure as to respond to him. She'd obviously taken too long to form a response as the next thing she'd heard was the door shutting behind him, and she was once again left to her own thoughts.

o

She grabs her stuff, ready to head home to her empty house. Emma was at Jonny's, so she knew her fate was red wine and a takeaway in front of a cringe rom com. She leaves her office, looking around the familiar ward that, while she had only left for a month, seemed to be different- the atmosphere was cold, tense, and just unpleasant. She let out a long sigh, questioning whether or not that she could actually fix things this time. She was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a wail of laughter coming from Fletch's office, only to see it was Nurse Somers and him in there, looking a bit too cozy for Jac's liking. Her skin prickled with displeasure, and she decided that if she didn't do something now, then she never would.

She marched over to Fletch's office, earning a raised eyebrow from Frieda on her way over. She ignored her, and pushed the office door open forcefully, startling the two chortling nurses in front of her.

"Can I have a word Fletch?" She mumbles, almost shyly, as she stands in the doorway, suddenly loosing her earlier confidence.

The two nurses share a look, before Sydney gets to her feet and begins to leave the office. "Miss Naylor." She nods at her in acknowledgement, a guarded look on her face. "I'll see you later Fletch." She hums as she leaves the office finally, closing the door behind her. She can feel her skin once again prickling with jealousy, swallowing nervously to try and keep it at bay. We're they going on a date already?

"Can I he-"

"I don't want us to be the way we were." She interrupted, standing directly in front of him, fiddling with her bag clasped firmly in her hands. She avoided his eyes, instead focusing on his tie that was tucked into his shirt- a habit she despised, but had grown to find it endearing.

"I can assure you Miss Naylor they won't-"

"I'm trying here Fletch!" She exclaims, interrupting him once again and earning herself an eye roll from the nurse in front of her. "I don't want us to be the way we were because it wasn't fair on you. I took advantage of your patience and I can see I've pushed you too far." She muses, taking on a much more gentle tone and testing the waters by flickering her eyes up to his every now and then. She sees a softness in his eyes, one that hasn't been there all day, but that boyish glint to them was still absent, and he was still guarded.

With his silence, she took it as a hint to go on. "I.. I want to change, Fletch. I want to try and express what's going on with me, I want to learn how to talk… how to tell you what I want to be able to tell you." She can feel her throat tightening and she's beginning to panic, he's been unusually quiet and she doesn't know what to do.

"Why did you leave?"

She freezes, her eyes fixed on the ground firmly, and every part of her was telling her to run. She ignored it, and let out a shaky breath.

"I've.. never held a healthy relationship with anyone. I just seem to hurt anyone I get too close to and.. of everyone, Fletch, you really don't deserve that." She hums out, a humourless smirk gracing her features. "You deserve someone like Sydney."

Her eyebrows shoot to the top of her head as he lets out a chuckle, and she looks at him questioningly. She figures she's blown it for good this time, and is ready to bolt out of the room when he clutches her shoulders, grinning down at her.

"Well, I'll be. Is Miss Naylor jealous?" He teases, eyeing her up closely. She fidgets uncomfortably under his gaze, and shrugs her shoulders. He waits encouragingly, and Jac realises that she's not getting away without answering him.

"Maybe." She humours him, but they both know that there's truth to her word.

"The running has got to stop, Jac. I can't keep getting my hopes up only for it to be in vain. If we're gonna do this, I have kids to consider as well, and they need to come first- you need to be fully in with no second thoughts." He murmurs to her, his tone laced with sincerity- she was lucky she was getting another chance, and what he was offering was nothing she wasn't aware of anyway.

"I'm not going anywhere, Fletch." She whispered to him, shuffling closed into his embrace. He smiles at her endearingly, and tilts her chin up so she's looking at him and he's looking at her. She's trembling already, he can feel it, so he helps her out at ducks his head down to hers and connects their lips. It's so gentle she isn't sure if it's real, but when he pulls back to look at her, checking that she's okay, she reattaches them without a thought, allowing herself to melt into his embrace as he nudges her closer to him by her hips. She smiles into the kiss, finally feeling like she belonged.

They couldn't go back to the way they were, instead they were going to become something even greater.


End file.
